Raccoon intelligence is one of the most colloquially accepted ideas in North American wildlife, and one of the least formally studied. There are 167 known types of blood cancer. There is almost no peer-reviewed research on how raccoons think. One PhD candidate at UBC is trying to change that.

The puzzle box had three problems on it and one marshmallow inside. The raccoon solved a problem, retrieved the marshmallow, confirmed by sight and touch and probably smell that the box was empty, and kept solving. That is the result Hannah Griebling did not fully expect and cannot entirely explain yet.

They are not bears. They are weasels. They do not have a true opposable thumb despite everything those hands can do. The gap between what we assume about raccoons and what science has actually confirmed is wider than almost anyone realizes.

Topics: raccoon intelligence, animal cognition, raccoon problem solving, urban wildlife behaviour, UBC research, trash panda

GUEST: Hannah Griebling

Originally aired on2026-04-13